What to do if Fitbit Inspire 2 won’t come out of Water Lock
Inspire 2 is a great little fitness tracker. It is ideal for those that want something discreet on their wrist and are not really fans of smartwatches. But like everything else it is not perfect. In this article we provide solutions to common Water Lock problems.
The gadget offer decent 24/7 fitness tracking and uses Fitbit’s tried and tested, simple to use software ecosystem. With an optical heart rate tracker on-board, along with a 3-axis accelerometer it churns out all the basics as far as health and activity stats.
Essential reading: Best fitness trackers and health gadgets
Plus all of this is packaged in a slim, water-proof design, with decent battery life and at a price that won’t break the bank. It is probably one of Fitbit’s best value for money trackers.
Fitbit Inspire 2 Water Lock – what is it?
Inspire 2 has a 5 ATM water-resistance rating. This means you can dunk it down to depths of 50 meters, which makes it perfectly safe to swim with. In fact, swimming is only one of 20 sports Inspire 2 has the ability to track.
When you jump in the pool, the automatic activity recognition should kick in. The device will track how long you’ve been swimming but the advanced swim metrics of some other Fitbit devices won’t be there. Having said that, you will get credit for your activity and info such as number of laps. The pool length can be specified in the settings.
One thing to be aware of is the Water Lock feature. This should switch on automatically when you start swimming – either via auto recognition or by commencing a swim session via the Exercise app. If Water Lock is not switched on, the Fitbit will refuse to track your swim session. So one option is to switch it on yourself.
You should also apply the Water Lock setting when for example taking a bath or shower, in order to prevent the buttons on Inspire 2 from activating. Basically the feature locks the screen and buttons rendering them useless. You’ll still get info, alarms, notifications and such – but you won’t be able to interact with anything until the Water Lock feature is turned off.
To manually turn on Water Lock, press and hold the buttons on Inspire 2. Then select the Water Lock Icon 
Troubleshooting tips
My Fitbit Inspire 2 won’t come out of Water Lock
The instructions sound simple enough but things don’t always go smoothly. You might find yourself monkeying around with the screen, tapping away with no response. The Water Lock feature simply refuses to go away. Sometimes, even the screen will not show up.
This seems to be a common issue with the tracker so might be a hardware fault. If anything, take some comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone. It seems to be a tap sensitivity issue.
One solution is to keep tapping firmly. It is not ideal but after a while the device should come out of Water Lock. Try tapping in various ways.
If this doesn’t work you certainly don’t want to be tapping extra hard with your palm. It might damage the internals.
Alternative solutions
A few things you can try in this case. Some users have reported that connecting Inspire 2 to the charger and plugging it in automatically recognises as “not in water anymore”. And will change the lock status.
Another solution is to use the smartphone app to change the clock face and sync. This also snaps it back to life. You can then revert to the old watch face.
A final solution is to do the double tap – and then pinch the sides for a few seconds – like you normally would to see the clock. This has worked for many and is actually mentioned in the product manual.
Hopefully one of these three solutions will work for you. They are better than a full-on double palm smack that some people seem to revert to!
My Fitbit Inspire 2 won’t come out of Water Lock
Another issue that has been reported is that Water Lock sometimes keeps activating for no reason. The gadget keeps prompting if you want to Water Lock. For some it happens 10-15 times per day, annoying them and draining battery life!
The suggestions from one of the Fitbit Forum moderators is to try and wear your Inspire 2 higher on your wrist or looser. Also to try and turn on Button Lock in the Settings app. This should prevent the buttons on your tracker from activating while the screen is off.
But the problem with activating button lock is that it prevents you from doing anything with the tracker. So our suggestion is to experiment with the way you wear the tracker. Also, do a restart of Inspire 2. That might help.
Unfortunately the Water Lock feature can’t be turned off. If you’d like for this to be added to a future software update, you can always vote and comment on the idea.
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